Apple vs Android

šŸ’¬ Lounge Debate Chamber
21

Apple wants to sell you products you enjoy.

Google wants to sell you data harvesting devices you find adequate enough to keep using.

Having moved over from Android about 3 years ago, it's a very different "feel". Apple goes out of their way to not have access to your data.

Example: Everything in my iCloud Drive is zero knowledge encrypted. Every one of the spreadsheets I have in Numbers is completely private (since they're stored in my iCloud), and Apple is not harvesting every bit of data they can from them to build more accurate ad profiles for me. If I interact with Siri, it's 100% on-device with nothing sent to Apple.

Heck, Google just got called out for tracking and profiling you WHILE INCOGNITO on Chrome. There's no limit they won't go to in order to harvest more data from you.

And that's not even mentioning the amazing vertical integration Apple provides. If my phone rings, I can answer it on any of my devices: iPad, MacBook, etc. If I get a 2FA code on SMS, I can paste it in on my iPad, MacBook, etc. No need to fumble with my phone to see what the code was. Everything 'just works'.

And let's not forget the "Android Tax". Android is MORE EXPENSIVE, by a LOT. Sure, you can get some $50 burner Android, with a total crap screen and battery and a potato of a camera... I'm not talking about those devices here. I'm talking about devices that actually compete with iPhone in terms of features, build-quality, photo quality, etc.

So for current models, an iPhone 14/15 vs a Samsung Galaxy S23/24. There's no meaningful price difference on the initial purchase. You can get a lower end S23 for a reasonable price, but you can also get an iPhone 14 for the same price.

But when you buy that Samsung, it's e-waste in 2 years. 3 years if you're really lucky. Samsung provides 3 years of security updates. Using a "my entire life is connected to this device, including every last financial account and my entire life savings" device after it stops getting security updates is... well, quite frankly absolutely and completely stupid. There's just too much risk.

Apple provides 5+ years of updates on iPhone. If you buy a brand new S23/24 today and a brand new iPhone 14/15 today and use them until they no longer receive security updates, then calculate your 'cost per year of ownership', the so called "Apple Tax" is a discount rather than a tax. An iPhone will cost you maybe $200/year if you get a $1000 phone and keep it the 5 years Apple provides updates. That same $1000 Samsung is e-waste after 3 years, so it's $333/year.

Yeah, you can keep using that Samsung after the security updates expire, but you might as well just post your bank log in info on the dark web yourself and save the hackers a few seconds of trouble.

Edit: And the apps are better. I was surprised, although maybe I shouldn't have been, to find probably a dozen apps I use regularly much better on iOS. Things were buggy, would do odd things, freeze up, crash, whatever thing(s) was wrong with that app. Loaded up the iOS version and it was like being on the 'stable' branch instead of the 'beta' branch. Not all companies do it, but there was definitely more than a couple that very much obviously put a lot more development effort into their iOS app compared to the Android app.

And then you have things like Photone, Sonos TruePlay, etc, that are iOS only and probably always will be.

4 Likes
22

My biggest gripe with Apple iOS and iPadOS is that when I am reading something that requires scrolling, if I touch the top left corner of the screen, it jumps back to the beginning. It does this on both of my iPads and my iPhone. Went through every conceivable setting. Running the latest OS. Has been like this for years, and lots of griping from others still hasnā€™t corrected the issue. All they need to do is toggle this ā€˜featureā€™ on and off.
Being left handed I hold the device with my left hand and scroll with the right. Sometimes a finger on my left hand will inadvertently touch the top left of the screen, so I need to scroll back down. After a few times I get really aggravated.

As for Android, I have 5 Fire Sticks, and three Fire HD tablets. The tablets havenā€™t been used in over a year. One Fire Stick is for my Wyze live camera feed from TinyCam Pro and another is for windy.com. Both of these are connected to their own dedicated 10ā€ monitor
The others are plugged into TVs for HBO MAX and other streaming services.

My older son is IT and was an Android fanboy for years. He switched to the Dark Side a few years ago after finding some apps needed for his job werenā€™t available for Android.

1 Like
23

I totally agree with @harold.min. My wife and I were solid Android users for years. She kept begging me to switch to iPhone. She now has an iPhone and iPad and I stayed with my Galaxy. Now she frequently asks me how to do things on the iPhone. Things that she could easily do before with Android. But since the Apple system, IMHO, is locked down so tight, she cannot do many of those things as before. If you like to "tinker" with your settings, OS, and other aspects of your Android system, I would suggest you stay away from Apple. JMHO.

5 Likes
24

Funny you should ask. After 20 years with Android, I just switched to an iPhone a few weeks ago. I always had top-tier smartphones, and I now have the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Why did I switch?
I had a hardware problem with my Galaxy S22+. In fact, I have had hardware problems with the last few Galaxy phones I have owned. I just hate all of the bloatware that Samsung puts on their phones, and I hate that Google wants to grab every bit of your personal information. Knowing how difficult it is to set up an Android phone and get each and every app configured to my tastes, I paused. My whole family and everyone I know use iPhones. So I decided now was the time to try a switch.

What do I think of iPhone?
Don't know how old you are but my smartphone experience pre-dates the Blackberry. The iPhone has reminded me of my Blackberry. The hardware is top notch. It is pretty good at the things it does, and though very popular, it really seems like an antiquated Operating System. Part of that is clearly Apple trying to maintain security, and keep its walled garden... just like Blackberry did. But I find both the Operating System AND the Apps, very primitive and restricting. The OS provides very little opportunity for customization. The Apps (3rd party) are absolutely horrible. They provide a small fraction of the functions that an equivalent Android app has, AND they charge considerably more money for the iPhone apps. As a gadget geek and perpetual tinkerer, I knew going in that iPhone would severely limit my ability to customize my phone. But I am still appalled at the experience. I have always thought that Apple devices were meant for the technologically challenged; I am now sure of it! If you like to tinker with your phone and apps to make them just how you like them, you will hate an iPhone, as I do.

FYI: My first smartphone. A Kyocera phone with the Palm Operating System.
Kyocera

4 Likes
25

Luckily this is no longer an issue, at least on Samsung unlocked devices on Verizon I don't have to wait for Verizon to do anything, FW comes from Samsung.

My wife has a Note 10+ released in 2019, and it still runs about as fast as my newer S21, so you can hold on to one for a long time. Current standards from Samsung are five years of security updates. I've never kept a phone that long, and my wife is finally starting to wonder about getting a new phone. :slight_smile:

I think others have summarized things well...if you like the Apple HW/ecosystem and "drink the kool aide" as a friend says, an iPhone is the way to go for the "it just works across a bunch of stuff" experience. If you have a mixed HW/user environment a lot of that benefit is lost, while still paying a premium for the HW.

I started w/Android on the OG Droid and have been ever since...have had iPhones from work and never felt they offered me anything compelling over Android, and going back to when I was rolling my own Android phone FW updates (and even now on phones where I'm using stock FW) the Apple closed/controlled ecosystem just doesn't interest me.

Feels like the old WordStar vs WordPerfect discussions...I'm a WordPerfect guy, I'd rather fight than switch. :wink:

6 Likes
26

Ah, those were the days.........WordStar fan here :smile:

Nope.

2 Likes
27

This is the key, do not buy a "carrier" phone, get an unlocked version YOU can control. And I've never kept any device over 4-5 years, there's just too much advancement to not upgrade, especially with the cameras and networks

2 Likes
28

That has been me for last 7-10 years.

I could never give up Tasker and all of the things that I can do to my Android that iPhone doesn't allow.

4 Likes
29

I've had a Samsung A53 for a while now. I wonder if there is a way in Settings to find out when it was first put into service...hmmm.

Anyway, it's been pretty good to me. I have read that Samsung is providing updates for a longer period, but I don't recall the details.

I also read that Apple CarPlay works with my MINI Cooper. I know someone with Android Auto, and if it's anything like that...no thanks.

I do remember the story from a few years ago where Apple (seemingly) resisted government pressure to unlock an iPhone and the government had to go to an Israeli contractor to break into it. Of course, who knows if that was true. I bet it sold some iPhones though.

edit: I went through some old emails. It looks like I bought the unlocked A53 direct from Samsung on Apr 24, 2022.

30

Ha! My wife begged me to switch over to Apple as well. After a year, she switched back. As much as everyone says that iPhones are easier to use, once you get used to the actual capabilities of Android, simpler isn't necessarily better.

4 Likes
31

I've posted this before...In my past life I worked at a very large consumer electronics company, and was talking to a friend about some customer testing they had done recently.

Customers were asked to complete tasks using "i-products" and other products. They were monitored in terms of how long the tasks took, key friction points, stops and starts, verbal comments during the test, etc. They filled out a questionnaire and had a short interview at the end.

The interesting part he shared was that the when customers were using i-Devices there was a lot of self-shaming: "Oh, I'm sure it's actually easy to do, I'm just not good at this stuff" and things like that and they gave higher ratings for experiences that were objectively not great for them. With the other devices it was much more likely to be along the lines of "This thing is confusing and I don't like it." As Darth would say "The Apple halo was strong in those customers." :wink:

I've seen this w/my own relatives who have gotten Apple products and couldn't figure out how to do stuff w/it, and just suffered in frustated silence for a really long time before asking me (family IT guy) for help. They were almost ashamed that they got stuck, because they had consumed so much of the Apple koolaide that they felt only an idiot wouldn't be able to use their i-thingy. I do think that generally Apple generally does a good job in their UX design, but it ain't nowhere near perfect... :slight_smile:

6 Likes
32

Apple has a way of making people feel shame. I'll never understand it.

I guess no one really wants to be yelled at by a man in a black turtleneck. Just don't hold it like that! <-- I won't be caught putting quotes around that...

I remember the first time I owned an iPhone (I've tried this experiment a couple times and we also own an iPad for Facetiming with the fam). I vividly remember thinking that I was stupid for not knowing how to change the settings inside an app. I also remember subsequently thinking that it was truly stupid to put those settings in another app...

I also remember those times when I'm navigating around Google Home and I have to go somewhere else to get to those settings... haha! These days, you wouldn't be able to set anything if you didn't have a search function in the settings.

1 Like
33

You cannot make anyone feel shame. That comes from within.

2 Likes
34

While that's a nice sounding platitude, it's not really true.

2 Likes
35

Since this is a Hubitat board, I will make a Hubitat focused reply. The best dashboard for Hubitat (IMHO) is the HD+ dashboard which is Android only. There doesn't seem to be a week that the developer isn't putting out an update with increased capabilities. Amazing work.

6 Likes
36

Truth. (IMHO) :smiley:

1 Like
37

i second this, while i love my ipad, iphone and macā€¦ i cant get fully Kiosk browser on any apple device.

1 Like
38

With your use case...the short answer is no. The longer answer is it depends on what Android phone you get. A pet peeve, especially in a forum like this one, is the generalization of Android across a plethora of devices. Same thing with Windows as a platform. Folks will buy a $200 phone or a $50 tablet running Android or a $300 Windows PC and complain that it doesn't work as well as a $1200 iPhone or a $2000 Mac (respectively).

Comparing comparable devices, there are pro/cons to any of them just like anything else.

Someone mentioned updates and that's up to the OEM for how long they support a certain device for Android. Google's Pixel lineup has been on a 5 year cycle since the Pixel 6 and the 8 series are 7 years.

For streaming devices, probably the closest thing to an Apple TV for Android would be the Nvidia Shield Pro which is a rockstar of a streaming media player (especially for users of Plex with it being about the only one that supports most Dolby Vision profiles). But, of course, you don't get the other bells and whistles for Homekit.

4 Likes
39

100% agree with the Shield. I have them on all my TVs.

A couple of them are the original version from 2015. Still just as good as when I bought them.

Controllable through Google Home if need be allowing for the keyboard entry someone mentioned above for Apple TV. In fact, you don't even need a Shield for that, you can just use a Google Chromecast with the Home app (Android or IOS).

I have it connected through Home Assistant so, a little off topic, but that avails some interesting automation options. Ex. As long as the Shield/TV is on, turn off any lighting automations in that room.

2 Likes
40

I can't justify $1200 for a device I use to talk with...... I buy the dirty cheap android.

2 Likes